Powerhouse to Punch Line, N.F.C. East Is in Free Fall

Eli Manning threw three more interceptions against Philadelphia on Sunday. He has 12 this season.Credit
Barton Silverman/The New York Times

If the N.F.C. East were a state, city or county, the federal government would declare it a disaster area and provide millions of dollars to bulldoze the refuse and start over.

But the sovereign body overseeing the worst division in major American sports is the N.F.L., so even if it appears the entire N.F.C. East shut down months ago, the Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins will be forced to keep playing anyway.

And we may be compelled to watch it, because the N.F.C. East is fast becoming the N.F.L.’s version of an overdramatic reality show, with every main character a serial letdown.

It’s a Fox special: Who will disappoint us the most this week in the N.F.C. East?

Will it be Eli Manning, the little brother who keeps connecting with all the wrong playmates (i.e., his opponents)?

Or will it be Tony Romo, the brooding Texas gunslinger who wins everyone’s hearts each week until the final seconds when he shoots himself in the foot— the way he did last week, and the year before that, and the decade before that?

Or will it be Michael Vick? No, wait, Vick is hurt again. That’s his annual scene-stealing downer.

Or could it be Robert Griffin III, enduring the most heart-rending twist of fate, the chosen one betrayed by his own body and an elder’s callous ambition in prime (playoff) time?

The best, or worst, part is that the perpetrator of one of these sad story lines gets a spot in the postseason. The winner of the division will even host a playoff game.

People seemed shocked that this has happened to the N.F.C. East, long respected as one of the most powerful, competitive divisions in professional football. It was known as a smash-mouth circuit, a place of tough, cold-weather defensive units. But that’s myth now. The N.F.C. East has been declining for years. The Giants’ run to a Super Bowl championship after the 2011 season simply obscured the fundamental deterioration.

In the last four seasons, including the current one, only one N.F.C. East team has been ranked among the top 10 defenses in the league. And that was the 2010 Eagles, an 8-8 team that was ranked 10th and did not make the playoffs.

This year, defensively, the highest-ranked N.F.C. East team is the Giants, who are 26th. Dallas is 28th. In last is Washington. In second to last is Philadelphia.

Photo

Robert Griffin III is not the dynamic quarterback he was last season.Credit
Ben Margot/Associated Press

Offensively, the N.F.C. East’s numbers are a little better — except for the Giants. But look at the scores of the games when the N.F.C. East teams venture out of their division.

N.F.C. East teams are 2-11 in those games and have been outscored, 405-276. The teams are giving up an average of 31.2 points a game outside the division. The average margin of defeat is 21.2 points. The two N.F.C. East victories outside the division were against the underwhelming St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders, teams that could apply this year for honorary N.F.C. East membership, except they might be overqualified. The Rams and Raiders, both 2-3, would be tied for first place in the division with the Cowboys and the Eagles.

It is a monumentally bad division, represented so perfectly at the bottom by the 0-5 Giants. It’s stunning how bad the Giants have been. They are last in the N.F.L. in rushing yardage a game (56.8), last in turnover ratio (minus 13), last in third-down conversion rate (26.2 percent), last in net yards a punt attempt (34.8) and last in points yielded a game (36.4). And that’s just a sampling of their deficiencies.

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They’re probably last in other categories not usually measured, like this one: liveliness and dynamism on the sideline.

The Giants even seem to be last in the karma department. Opponents have tried 12 field goals against the Giants and have made each one. The Giants have fumbled the ball eight times in 2013. They have lost seven of those fumbles.

The Giants have been outscored in the fourth quarter, 61-21. They are the first team since the 1954 Chicago Cardinals to give up 31 points or more in their first five games. And you never want to be compared to the Chicago Cardinals, a team that won a total of 33 games in the 1950s.

Where do the Giants and the N.F.C. East go from here? Probably further into the national consciousness as the butt of jokes whenever the conversation is pro football. On Monday, the anchors on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” started laughing whenever the division came up. Expect the division’s woes to work their way into late-night monologues as well.

That is what has happened to what was once the N.F.L.’s dominant grouping, the division that was always rough and tumble. Now it’s the snicker and giggle division.

Last week, Giants Coach Tom Coughlin used the weakened, depleted state of the N.F.C. East as a means to motivate the Giants. If the Giants could beat the Eagles, Coughlin said, they could be one game out of first place.

Preparing Monday for the Giants’ Thursday night game at Chicago, he did not mention the standings. The Giants are only two games out of first place, but enough is enough.

Still, after Sunday’s victory over the Giants, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson knew where his team now stood.

“We could be in first place, baby,” Jackson said, smiling widely.

That’s what a 2-3 record gets you in the N.F.C. East this year. A losing record is nothing to be ashamed of — it’s worth first place, baby.

A version of this article appears in print on October 8, 2013, on Page B10 of the New York edition with the headline: Powerhouse to Punch Line, N.F.C. East Is in Free Fall. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe